A story in stone

When design also expresses culture and heritage, you get the unique opportunity to purchase something more than just a teacup or a bowl; you become part of a story. Arran Street East is inspired by its Irish origins and is sharing them with the world, one beautiful piece of stoneware at a time.

In September, I attended the London Design Festival and was blown away by how much talent this country possesses. British designers have this inherent way of manifesting new shapes, colours and ideas while paying homage to heritage and tradition. Over the course of this week, I will be highlighting some of the amazing designers that I got to meet during the festival and share with you their innovative ideas, the creative minds behind them, and the beautiful products they are producing, starting with Arran Street East.

Arran Street East at London Design Festival

Arran Street East instantly caught my eye at the festival. Their stand was quite large and very bright. Three large, white walls had been delicately adorned with simple, sporadic, wooden shelves that held these beautiful, minimal ceramics; not to mention the eye catching name and logo. Colourful but not bright, the tones are soft, warm and welcoming; ideal for a traditional British home. In love at first sight, I began talking to Arran Street East representatives, as well as the lovely Laura Magahy, learning of the connection to their origins and the influence of heritage on their brand. I was hooked!

“Our identity is deeply connected to our sense of place. The A of our logo comes from the old Irish ‘A’ on the Arran Street East street sign … We believe that our brand speaks to a global audience … who are interested in products with meaning, heritage, and a slow and thoughtful process,” says Laura Magahy.

Ingrained in Ireland’s architectural and design industries for over 20 years, Laura Magahy, founder of Arran Street East, has been involved in many of the country’s major cultural developments. Frustrated with the lack of simple yet functional and beautiful stoneware in the homewares market, Laura founded Arran Street East in 2014, inspired by the Victorian Fruit and Vegetable Market of Dublin (where their studio just happens to be based). While the colour and pattern of the ceramics is inspired by fruits and vegetables from the market, architectural forms influence the shapes, each piece hand thrown in the Dublin studio, taking a week to make from beginning to end.

Each colour is inspired by a fruit or vegetable from the Dublin Fruit and Vegetable Market – pink grapefruit, pomegranate, lemon, parsnip, cabbage and potato.

“We take time to design things that work, merging an architecturally influenced aesthetic and traditional processes to produce useful objects for everyday life, with pattern and symmetry as our watchwords,” says Laura Magahy.

The Victorian Fruit and Vegetable Market of Dublin

Founder, Laura Magahy

Hand thrown ceramics

Exquisitely simplistic and exuding modern shape and form, Arran Street East’s ceramics also offer a refreshing take on colour. In between “a pop” and “shabby chic”, it’s not just the colour and design of this stoneware that makes it special but also the heritage and cultural influences that inspire it.

New products including The Eggcups, The Linens, The Breadboard, The Soapdish, and The Pegs will be rolling out over Winter, so if you’d like to know more about Arran Street East and learn where you can purchase their beautiful products, please visit www.arranstreeteast.ie.

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I am a writer of the weird and wonderful happenings of everyday life with a focus on food & wine, design and travel. Dine With Design is your go-to source for feeding all of your dining, home design and travel cravings.
www.dinewithdesign.com

Karsha Green

My name is Karsha Green. I am a writer of the weird and wonderful happenings of everyday life with a focus on food & wine, design and travel. Dine With Design is your go-to source for feeding all of your dining, home design and travel cravings.

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